Debts that cannot be repaid in full
Malinda Seneviratne A friend joked recently that there was a time when friends and relatives would ask ‘aren’t you thinking about being married?’ but now they ask ‘haven’t you thought about migrating?’...
View ArticleOn sweeping close to one’s feet
Malinda Seneviratne Jayanath Bodahandi (Bodhi), the eldest in his family, would have been just out of school when his father, an illustrator at an advertising agency, passed away. Bodhi could draw and...
View Article‘Wetness’ is not the preserve of the Wet Zone
Malinda Seneviratne I don’t know when the terms viyali kalaapaya (dry zone) and theth kalaapaya (wet zone) were first used in relation to this island. I don’t know when the term mosam sulang (monsoon...
View Article‘Sorry, Earth!’.
Malinda Seneviratne The late Lanil Kalubowila once offered some interesting reflections on language and politics. The last time I met him, along with our mutual friend Kanishka Goonewardena, he...
View ArticleRepublicanism and its discontents
Malinda Seneviratne There are words that seem to be very popular among politicians and political groups when it comes to naming a new part or coalition. ‘Jathika’ or ‘National’ would top the list. We...
View ArticleBeyond praise and blame
Malinda Seneviratne The first time I encountered the word ‘ruffled’ was in the main hall of my school. The walls were lined with adorned with photographs of distinguished alumni and under each set...
View ArticleThe relative values of life and death
Malinda Seneviratne At around 11.30 pm, Sri Lanka time, on Monday the 19th of June, a submersible vessel, the Titan, at the other end of the world, set off with five persons on board and a 96-hour...
View ArticleIn praise of courage, determination and insanity
Malinda Seneviratne Human beings are curious. Their curiosity prompts them to explore the unknown, venture into unmapped territory and test their own capacities to endure. They climb, they sail and...
View ArticleLet’s help Jagana Krishnakumar rebuild our ancestral home
Malinda Seneviratne Tragedy of any kind can yield tears. Tragedy of any kind can also yield resolve. There are other harvests too. Apportioning of blame, absolving responsibility, anger, revenge-intent...
View ArticleNiger ‘crisis’: Blinken is blinking, Nuland is midwifing
Malinda Seneviratne Antony Blinken is concerned, poor man. The US Secretary of State, following talk of the current Niger leadership considering obtaining military support from the Wagner Group, told...
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